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"Nice tablet, weird keyboard, hard to lock" on by John Guin
Pros: excellent screen, runs Vista well
Cons: nonstandard keyboard layout, other small annoyances
Summary: While I love the tablet PC and the idea of a tablet, this particular model has some odd things that take some getting used to.
The keyboard has the CTRL and FN keys reversed from every other keyboard I have ever used, and is endlessly confusing to use when cutting, pasting or using CTRL+ESC to open the start menu. Oh, I wish I could reverse those two keys.
The lock attachment is adjacent to the power cord and results in a very tight fit. Invariably, I wind up disconnecting the power cord to lock the device, and again when unlocking. A minor hassle, admittedly.
The big stuff that's wrong: our team ordered 5 of these. 4 immediately went bad ( in 2 weeks) due to faulty ram. Got that replaced, 2 more went bad again. Obviously, there are some quality control problems somewhere...
The utilities which came with it caused nothing but problems. The RNR (keeps a mirror of your data on the hard drive in case you drop the darn thing) started blue screening after a week. Uninstalling it fixed the problem and freed up about 15% of the disk to boot.
Also, none of the device we had could fit into the docking stations Lenovo sent. More frustration.
Last frustration: when going to the Lenovo site to get updates, the web page cannot autodetect the tablet.
On the plus side, the screen is excellent and has about the best feel I've experienced when using the pen to write on it. Also, the hardware (when it works) is very high quality and runs Vista without a problem. Some of the Thinkpad utilities don't work yet with Vista, but the utilities are for the most part resource hogs, so having them disabled is no big deal.
It's fairly light for all its capabilities and has pretty good battery life as well. I like the easy to use lock to lock the screen down.
Summary: there are probably less annoying tablets out there, but this one (when it works) is pretty fast. Can't recommend it though - shop around and make sure the key placement on the keyboard is where you expect it to be. -
"Solid HW, SW Needs some refinement" on by rimb1172
Pros: Solid Thinkpad Industrial Design, MS OneNote works well, Nice screen
Cons: No touchpad/Ultranav, Vista Needs Optimization
Summary: I think it is not easy to rate this machine without breaking the review up into three distinct sections: Hardware, Software, Service.
HARDWARE: When getting a Thinkpad, you need to remember what the tradeoffs are. You are buying a solid mechanical chassis at the expense of performance specs and price. For example, my T40's lid has been opened and closed over the years thousands of times and the hinge is still tight and the display doesn't flop around. The lettering on the keys has not worn off and it never skipped a beat even after my bag with the T40 in it fell off a barstool onto a concrete floor. The plastic on the corner cracked a bit, but it was fine. From the contruction I can see so far on the X60 tablet, it looks like they have stayed true to the Thinkpad design approach. Time will tell of course, but the rotating hinge appears solid and the overall construction looks quite good.
Tech specs are decent, but not stellar. I got the Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM, but the video performance suffers somewhat since the graphics processor shares its memory with the main system memory as opposed to having dedicated VRAM like the T series graphics processor has. Normally, I wouldn't mind as much since I have another machine for playing games, but Vista does require quite a bit of video processing.
The Ultrabase works fine, but the two small hooks at the front that help hold the X60 in seem rather flimsy and I bent one slightly when I removed the X60 too quickly.
SOFTWARE: If there are any performance problems with the system, I would attribute it more towards Vista than the system itself.
First of all, Vista looks great no doubt about it. Nice shadow effects, fadeout closing windows, semi-transparent effects, desktop gadgets, the whole nine yards.
The best analogy I can think of for Vista is that it's like getting a really hot looking sports car, but finding out after your first drive that it doesn't go very fast even though you have a huge V8 under the hood because the car is so heavy.
Vista is heavy. As a precaution, I got 2GB of RAM and it still doesn't seem to be enough. When I cold boot the system, from power on to when the hard drive stops thrashing is literally 10 minutes. I'm not kidding, I timed it with my watch. Getting to the login is fairly quick and the fingerprint scanner is a really cool, but during the next 8 minutes after you login, the HD is thrashing and slows down everything until its done. Luckily I spent the extra $$$ on a single 2GB SODIMM so I still have an open memory slot. 3GB better be enough.
Vista still hasn't quite gotten the kinks worked out of the system wakeup from suspend. When I'm at my desk, I use the Ultrabase to drive an external keyboard and large screen monitor. When I resume from suspend especially if I've undocked the system, the display settings sometimes get screwed up and I have to set it right manually.
Finally, the X60 came bundled with Symantec security software. When I first connected the X60 to my network, it would not see any of the WinXP machines I had on my network no matter what I did. I suspected it was the Symantec software, but it provided no obvious way of disabling the security so I could test it. So, I took the leap and blew away the Symantec software and *poof* I could suddenly see all my other computers.
SERVICE: When I ordered the system from Lenovo, the LCD was on backorder so it took longer than usual to process my order. When I called Customer Service, they picked up quickly and were very professional and explained the situation.
When the system was ready, Lenovo sent it by UPS Express without me even asking for it, and it got to me from China in two days free of charge. That gets brownie points from me.
BOTTOM LINE: The HW and Service definitely gets my vote. However, if you can get it with WinXP Tablet instead of Vista, I would go that route if I could do it all over again.
Vista is certainly very visually appealing, but it puts too much demand on the system resources and many applications don't fully support all the bells and whistles yet.Updated
After using this machine for just over a month now, I can say that I definitely like the hardware aspect of this system. It is at least 2 lbs lighter than my T40 and with the 8 cell battery, I can get 3.5-4 hours of use. The WSXGA screen is very nice and the tablet/pen and MS OneNote work great.
A lot of the supporting software is another matter... I posted my findings on one of CNET's forums, but the long and short is that the ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery utility that comes activated by default uses up a TON of HD space. I'm not talking 5-6GB, it was using up over *30GB* on my HD for backup files. Also, Vista's file indexing system appeared to be slowing the boot/login process.
So, I stick by my rating and it's a good solid machine, but here's what I recommend:
1) Turn off Windows file indexing
2) Leave Windows System Restor ON (will use 4-8GB)
3) DISABLE ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery and delete the R&R Backup files because they use up way too much space. Just get a NAS drive and file sync your work onto it for a backup. -
"No other Tablet beats it" on by orref
Pros: ThinkPad design and quality
Cons: little warm, fan is a bit louder than I am used to
Summary: I have owned a few different tablets over the years. As a sales person on the go and taking a lot of notes, a tablet is my best bet. While HP's did a good job, IBM's X41 did it much better. The X60 does in fact build on the X41's success. I am a heavy computer user and after a long day the laptop does get warm and the fan can get a bit loud. Otherwise I am very happy with the X60's.
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"Excellent Vista Tablet" on by randaxis
Pros: Seamless upgrade to Vista, no headache when migrating from an XP laptop
Cons: 3 hour battery life is a stretch
Summary: All I can say is the wait was worth it. I have been holding off since September to purchase a new laptop to replace my old Sony, and I chose to wait for 2 reasons. I wanted to purchase my first Tablet, and I didn't want to have to worry about upgrading from XP to Vista. So when I finally opened up the box on my new X60, months of anticipation were over.
The ThinkPad X60 runs Vista beautifully, and the new tablet interface combined with the suffling windows in Vista provides a sleek UI. My job takes me out of the office extensively, and the X60 is the perfect size mix which neither sacrafices portability nor functionality. My only gripe is that 3 hours is about 6 hours less than my average workday. I have a Portable Power Station external battery that I used on my old Vaio, and that usually gets me through the rest of the day. Battery Geek just came out with a new adapter tip for the X60's fat DC input. Finger response on the screen is as you would expect, and I always keep my stylus close by. On the whole, I would definitely recommend this tablet for the single reason that it has made my upgrade to Vista painless. Now I just have to get iTunes up an running. -
"Beats the hell out of the fujitsu T4215" on by smilyjoe
Pros: Best writing experience and very light
Cons: lenovo software is buggy on vista
Summary: I used the T4215 for a month and then finally settled for this one. I'll compare the two here.
1. This one has a better writing experience compared to the fujtsu.
2. It is lighter although the fujitsu has better features including a CD-Drive. Since, I have a desktop I never really miss it and get to it using virtual desktop.
3. The lenovo software is very annoying on the computer, but the fujitsu did much better there.
4. I prefer the feel of the Lenovo keyboard. The fujitsu keyboard felt very weird. Although the T42 I owned before had a better keyboard.
5. Do not trust the acclaimed Fujitsu customer support. They'll pick up the phone in 2 minutes, but they can't fix a thing. Mine came with a faulty CD-ROM drive and I send it back thrice but they couldn't fix it. I am an engineer and I understand some of these things, but I had a hard time getting anything fixed. What is worse, they will not replace your laptop or without you threatening them. BEWARE!
6. I was concerned about the lack of a touchpad, but I quickly got used to it.
7. It needs a lot of ram to give you speed. Get as much as you can.
Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet user reviews (Windows Vista)
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